WarSpartan wrote:Hello
Two concepts I wrestle with intellectually with the game rules are:
1. MDC completely undamageable by SDC weapons.
2. For me an unintuitive division of the different types of PS (normal, enhanced, extraordinary, supernatural).
Just wanted to get some ideas of how some of the GM's (or optional rules that i might not know of) have handled these items if they were changed for thier campaigns.
1. Not using the pure MDC system in the rules. I read that you can do away with MDC and just use the SDC by converting it all 1 for 1. Thats not really how i want to go. I want to respect the concept behind the MDC system in that some materials are incredibly dense / hard to damage. Yet at the same time it theoretically makes sense for me to allow SDC weapons to eventually degrade and MDC item. My real hangup simply comes from the idea that some SDC weapons used in sufficient quantity or spent enough time using them would eventually cause damage to MDC items.
So for those who dont use the pure MDC system what variants have you come up with ? I'd love to hear any ideas.
2. Has anyone thought of a way to normalize the PS into one grade of PS yet still work in the very signficant different types of PS ? The various overlapping types just tear at me. I'd love a system or method of having one type of PS and still getting the effect of higher strength.
Again your ideas / methods are appreciated !
Here is my proven Rifts M.D.C. to S.D.C. Conversion rules.....
Here are some conversion Rates for the Rifts RPG (also applicable to the Chaos Earth and Splicers RPGs) to convert M.D.C. power armor , bots , vehicles and weapons to the S.D.C. system. Multiply by the Listed amounts to get S.D.C.
M.D. Times 2 is now the S.D.C. damage for vibro-blades .
M.D. Times 2 is now the S.D.C. damage for hand-held Small Arms type weapons .
M.D. Times 3 (Tmes 2 for Man-sized Railguns) is now the S.D.C. damage for heavy or power armor mounted weapons (Includes Hand Grenades and the grenades used in Grenade Launchers), also note that Railguns do their converted burst damage in M.D. as S.D.C. per a singe shot (I.E. a C-40R SAMAS Railgun now does 2D4x10 S.D.C. per a single round) and that bursts from railguns should be treated as exacty the same as those of Machineguns.
M.D.Times 10 is now the S.D.C. damage for heavy vehicle mounted weapons (Includes the Glitter Boy's Boom-Gun) .
M.D. Times 5 is now the S.D.C. damage for explosives/missiles.
M.D.C. Times 3 is now the S.D.C. for body armor (this puts Plastic-Man roughly equivalent with riot armor) and ALL Rifts High-Tech Body Armor has the equivalent of Natural/Robot A.R.
M.D.C. Times 3 is now the S.D.C. for power armor , cyborgs , small vehicles, and man-sized robots (this gives a Death's Head SAMAS 750 S.D.C., about as much as a mack truck) and ALL Bionic Systems and Military Vehicles have an equivalent of Natural/Robot A.R.
M.D.C. Times 3 is now the S.D.C. for M.D.C. tanks, conventional vehicles that are larger than man sized, ships , submarines, Glitter Boys and Giant Robots (this gives the largest Iron Heart Armaments tank something like 1900 S.D.C., which is better but still in the same ballpark as an M-1 Abrams at 1500 S.D.C.), and also ALL Military Vehcles have an equivalent of Natural/Robot A.R.
M.D.C. Times 1 to Times 10 for truly massive things (starships, Chi-Town, etc). The balance on these kinds of things varies dramatically (See the below notes on A.R. for these).
The Armor Rating of Different Types of Armor : The only other consideration for armor is to assign an Armor Rating (A.R.).
Most padded, plastic, and light vests and body armor like the Huntsman, Urban Warrior, Juicer, and Plastic Man armor are A.R. 13. Strong and lightweight body armors like the Bushman, Gladiator, Crusader, Explorer and full plate body armor will likely have an A.R. 15 or 16. Most power armor have an A.R. of 16 to 17 and so do human sized robots , like Skelebots, and giant robots , heavy robot vehices like the Coalition Spider Skull Walkers, tanks, APCs, etc., have and A.R. of 18. The Armor Ratings for bionic and robotic characters are likly to be in the range of at A.R. 11 or 12 for light armor, 14 or 15 for medium armor, and 16 or 17 for heavy armor, an an 18 MAXIMUM for heavy full plate armor.
Vehicles like the Big Boss and the various car and airplane like vehicles-like vehicles have an A.R. of 6 to 8, but armored vehicles like the Mountaineer A.T.V. have an A.R. of 13 to 14. Old Style Military Vehicles , the Coalition Mark V APC, Death’s Head Transports, and other tank, APC, military Aircraft and combat vehicles have an A.R. of 17. The old CS Sky Cycle has an A.R. of 14 but the new ones have an A.R. of 16.
Force Fields and Magic Barriers usually have an A.R. of 19 or 20, allowing the force field to absorb all or most of the damage. When all of the force field’s S.D.C. is used up it’s destroyed/gone. The Armor of Ithan spell provides an A.R. of 18 and 200 S.D.C. points.
Physical Strength of Robots, Power Armor, Cyborgs, and Juicers: Use these rule for the raw Physical Strength (P.S.) Of the items and individuals.
Exo-skeleton body armor and Partial Conversion Cyborgs and Juicers have a physical strength equal to the Heroes Unlimited Minor Super Ability : Extraordinary Physical Strength , Power Armor, Full Conversion Cyborgs have an physical strength equal to the Heros Unlimited Minor Super Ability : Super Human Physical Strength , and Giant Robots have an equivalent physical strength to the Heroes Unlimited Major Super Ability : Super Human Physical Strength .
NOTE: For magical and supernatural creatures, spells, and creations just use the rules on page 31 of the Rifts Conversion Book One Revised Edition to turn them into S.D.C./Hit Point equivalent creatures/spells, then take a look at how they stat out and modify them to your liking.
